Swansea City Ladies Rhyl

Swansea City Ladies have progressed to the semi-final of the FAW Women's Cup following an impressive 4-1 win over Rhyl Ladies at Llandarcy Academy of Sport on Sunday. 

Striker Stacey John gave the hosts an early lead as she latched onto Gemma Border's assist to fire home. 

Border had a great chance to extend the Swans' lead, only to see her effort denied by Rhyl's keeper, whilst a sharp cross from Sarah Adams hit the outside of the post midway through the half. 

Swans keeper Kate Brisland made some good saves, but she was beaten just before half-time by Ashley Mills.

Swansea rallied in the second half and retook the lead six minutes after the restart with a stunning 20-yard strike from John.

And the striker completed her hat-trick in the 67th minute when she netted from Katy Hosford's corner to extend the Swans' lead. 

Jodie Passmore added a fourth for the Swans with a well-taken strike from the edge of the area in the 72nd minute to seal the victory for the home side. 

Rhyl had a chance to reduce the deficit just before the final whistle, but Catherine Archer's attempt at goal hit the post. 

After the match, hat-trick hero John, who has just returned from injury, expressed her delight at the result which sees the Swans progress to the semi-finals.

"It's always good to get on the scoresheet and help the team win," she said. "Especially after coming back from a short spell of injury."

"It's a great feeling to progress to the next round of the cup. We didn't perform our best in the first half, but we came out and showed them why we are top of the league in the second half and really took the game to them."

SWANS LADIES: Kate Brisland, Pam Pelders, Alicia Powe, Ria Hughes (Taylor Williams, 93), Megan Franks (Ffion Ashman, 84), Sarah Adams, Sophie Hancocks, Jodie Passmore, Katy Hosford, Stacey John, Gemma Border (Emma Beynon, 75). 

UNUSED SUBS: Courtney Young.